Refrigerating apparatus



Dec. 22, 1936. J J NANCE 2,065,391

REFRIGERATING APPARATU S Filed Oct. 19, 1933 4 Sheets-Sheet l n n Q n n n n n n n n n a a n n h n a n a M zvENTOR ATTORN EYS Deb. 22, 1936. u J NANCE 2,065,391

REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Filed Oct. 19, 1933 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEYS Dec. 22, 1936. NAN E 2,065,391

REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Filed Oct. 19, 1933 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 2 T@ g 0 O '69 x 0 [m 0 C) 0 l :---:H :16 zzizzrfif--f INV NTOR placed'thereon tend to shift their position and. Fig. '7 is a side view of the fixed shelf and the but whic is provided with a latch means for sliding she f Structure; a d

attaaei REIFWIIGIERATING AllPlPMlLWS .llamries ll. Nance, lfliaytiiin, Uhio, tigimor to Gen- 'eral Motors @orporation, Dayton, while, a corporation of Delaware Application Uctober 119, 1933, Serialll lo. 6943M tfllaims. (0011.. Mil-J53) This invention relates to refrigerating ap- Fig. 1 is a front view of a refrigerator cabinet paratus and more particularly to refrigerator with the door. open; shelves. Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectionalview of the re- When stationary shelves are provided in a refrigerator cabinet showing a fixed shelf with the frigerator cabinet, the articles which are stored supporting. wires removed holding in suspension thereon first are usually placed at the rear and my sliding shelf provided with receptacles and the articles which are placed in the cabinet later means for holding the receptacles; are placed in the front of the shelves. This Fig. 3 is a front view of the fixed shelf and the makes the articles in the rear of the shelf relasliding shelf without the receptacles; tively. inaccessible and it is' usually necessary to Fig. 4 is a rear view of the fixed shelf and the 10 remove the:articles placed invthe front of the sliding shelf without the receptacles; shelf-in order to gain access to those placed at the Fig. 5 is a top view of the fixed shelf with the rear. In order to overcome this, sliding shelves supporting wires removed and with the recepor removable shelves of some form or ,other have tacles removed from the sliding shelf; been provided by various. manufacturers, How- Fig. 6 is a side view of the fixed shelf and the 5 ever, with such type of shelves when they are sliding shelf with the sliding shelf in retracted powithdrawn. from the refrigerator, the articles sition without the receptacles;

some articles tend to topple over. sliding shelf with the sliding shelf in extended It is an object of myv invention to provide a position without the receptacles; 20 sliding shelf means having means to properly Fig. 8 is a sectional view of a form of sheet support and to hold the receptacles in position metal sliding shelf provided with rollers so that thereon. it may be easily operated;

In many cases a number of articles on a shelf Fig. 9 is a front view of the sheet metal shelf need to be removed atone time for particular provided with receptacles; purposes. In such a case, it is very convenient to Fig. 10 is a top view of the sheet metal shelf; be able to readily remove all of these articles at Fig. 11.is a side view of the sheet metal shelf one time. It is an object of my invention to protogether with the latch and roller mechanism in vide a shelf means having a removable member extended position; i v thereon which will support a plurality of articles Fig. 12 is a side view of the roller type shelf 30 or receptacles which can be conveniently removed 1 in retracted position; 1 together with all of its articles. i Fig. I3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken It is another object of my invention to provide on the line Iii-I3 of Fig. 7 and showing an era sliding s elf means which is entirely removable rangem n 0f p member ploy d in the preventing the accidental removal of the shelf 14 is a p P View Of h arrangement from the refrigerator. shown in Fig. 13.

In order to properly support a sliding shelf, it Referring to t e drawings P 0- is necessarytohave a stationary support withularly to Fig. there 15 shown a r frigerator in the refrigerator. In an electric refrigerator, Cabinet having a food Compartment 2| P O- space within the refrigerator is at a premium i d with an evaporating means 22 for cool and each'extra bit of space that is made useful E t? g g gg gzg i ereisproveap a s onay 532: gg ag iifis fi g g' ggg ig g 5$??? shelves, one of which is designatgd by the refvention to provide a sliding shelf which is slid- 53 i ig gi g ggfimg g fi fiie fr jng o l i ably suspended beneath a stationary shelf so that W rear of the shelf. These bars are supported b it takes up very little ordinarily useable space a heavy r 25 to which the ends of the within the refrigerator. i

are welded. This heavy wire 25 extends around Further ob-lects and advantages of the present the perimeter of the shelf 23 and the side porinvention will be apparent from the following tions are bent dewnwardly and inwardly so as desc ip reference being had to the accomto provide ledges 26 at either side beneath the panying drawings. wherein Preferred form of shelf. Supported upon the ledges 26 is an inthe present invention is clearly shown. termedlate member 21 formed of a pair of rec- In the drawings: tangular wire loop portions connected by a cross- 55 wire. The rectangular wire portions serve as a -means for slidably connecting the stationary shelf 23 with a sliding shelf means 28 which is szldably supported beneath the stationary shelf member 21 which has its longitudinal portions connected to the stationary shelf 23 and has the looped portions at the front thereof formed to receive the sliding shelf 28, the member 21 is connected to both the stationary shelf and the sliding shelf. The sliding shelf 28 may be drawn entirely clear of the other shelves so that the extreme back portion of the sliding shelf may be readily reached.

Extending down the middle of the sliding shelf ,28 is a pair of heavy central bars or wires 30 and 42. At one side of the wire 30 is a heavy wire ring 3| which is welded to the wire 30 as well as to the wire 32 which extends from front ,to rear of the sliding shelf near the right edge thereof and parallel to the central heavy wires or bars 30 and 42. The ring 3| is also welded at its rear edge to a heavy wire 33 which extends around the perimeter of the sliding shelf 28. The front edge of the ring 3| is preferably welded to a cross wire 84 which extends from the central wire 38 to the side'wire 32. The ring 3| provides a firm support for a round receptacle or dish 35 shown in Fig. 2. In the front of this sliding shelf 28 there is provided a pair of square receptacles 33 which are supported by a pair of cross wires 31 which are provided withhumps 38 in the center to hold the receptacles 36 in proper position. These humps 38- act as partitions for the receptacles 36, along with the cross bar or wire 34 and the wire 33 which extends around the perimeter of the shelf.

At the other side of the sliding shelf 28 there is provided a removable wire basket generally designated by the reference character 40. This basket is removably supported by a left side bar 4| and the central left side bar 42 which extend from the front to the rear of the sliding shelf and are fastened to the heavy wire 33 which extends around the perimeter. This basket 40 has a wire 43 which extends around its perimeter and which is provided with a plurality of cross wires 44 having humps 45 at their center portions which serve as partitions. Cross wires 48 also extend from the front to the rear of the basket 40 and are provided with humps 41 which serve as partitions for holding the pair of square receptacles, and the long receptacles 49 within the basket on the left side of the sliding shelf.

,With this basket if it is desired to remove all of the receptacles from the refrigerator, it is merely necessary to pull out the sliding shelf 28 and remove the wire basket 40 therefrom and to carry the basket wherever it ,is needed. This is very convenient in serving dishes or in dishing out foods in proper ration for meals.

In this way, by the use of wires and bars, a sliding shelf is provided with means for holding the covered refrigerator dishes in place upon the shelf. The shelf is supported beneath a stationary shelf so that a minimum of space is required and an intermediate sliding member is provided so that the sliding shelf may be drawn entirely clear of the stationary shelf. Thestationary shelf 23 is provided with stop members 58 each formed of a flat metal strip which has its upper end curled around one of the bars 24 of the shaft to form a pivoted connection and which hang downwardly so that they engage the rear portion of the intermediate member 21 in With the provision of this intermediate order to limit the outward movement of this intermediate member. In order to completely withdraw the sliding shelf, the stop pins are moved inwardly, turning about their pivoted support to release the intermediate member. In this way an adequate support is insured for the intermediate member 21. I find that this type of shelf means is .very simple and relatively easy to clean. A wire member formed into an inverted U-shaped element as shown at 52 is secured to and extends upwardly from the lower longitudinal part of the sliding member 21. The element 52 is positioned in the path of the back rim of member 28 and provides a stop for preventing detachment of the member 28 from the sliding member 21 during the act of sliding the member 28 forwardly relative to member 21.

Referring now to the modification shown in Figs. 8 to 12 inclusive, there is provided a sliding shelf 80 formed of sheet metal which is provided with a plurality of circular apertures 6| to permit the circulation of air therethrough. This sheet metal shelf is also provided with a plurality of long apertures generally designated by the reference character 62 which are provided with up-turned flanges 63 serving as partitions between the refrigerator receptacles or dishes 64 which are shown in position upon the shelf in Fig. 9. The longitudinal apertures 62 permit the flow of circulating air between the dishes and thus insure proper circulation within the refrigerator and proper cooling of the receptacles upon the sliding sheet metal shelf. The sliding sheet metal shelf 80 is provided with a heavy wall 65 which extends around its perimeter and which is curled as shown at 66 so as to rest upon a set of rollers 61 which operate within a groovejfl. The groove 68 which is formed of a G-shaped piece of sheet metal rests upon another set of rollers 69 which operate in another stationary G-shaped groove or track member 10. This groove or track 10 is provided with threaded means H which extend therefrom and which are provided with a rubber cushioned adjusting means 12 threaded thereon which engages depressions 13 formed in the rear wall of the refrigerator cabinet. Adiacent the front end of the groove or track means 10 is provided threaded extension members 14 which extend forwardly and which are provided with rubber cushioned threaded adjusting means 15 which extend into the depressions 16 formed in the front portion of the refrigerated cabinet. This structure is further strengthened by a cross bar 11 which extends from one of the threaded extensions 14 to the other.

With this type of construction, the rolling or sliding shelf 60, as this type of shelf is generally called, may be entirely withdrawn from the cabinet and from the grooves or tracks and rollers upon which it operates; However, in order to prevent this from being done accidentally, I provide a pivoted latch means 18 which, unless released, will engage a notch 19 formed in the groove or track member 68 to prevent the entire withdrawal of the sliding shelf- 60. However, when the entire withdrawal of the sliding shelf is desired, it is merely necessary to lift up the latch 18 out of the notch 19 and in this way the entire shelf may be removed. The use of the rollers in this shelf make it very easy to operate. While the form of embodiment of the invention as herein disclosed, constitutes a preferred form, it is to be understood that other forms might be adopted, all coming within the scope of the claims which follow.

Whatis claimed is as follows: 1. A shelf structure including a stationary shelf support member,-a slidable shelf support member slidably connected to the stationary member, and a sliding shelf slidably connected to the slidable support member, said slidable member having metal loop portions connecting the stationary member and the sliding shelf.

2. A stationary shelf support member adapted to be removably supported by a cabinet, a slidable shelf support member slidably connected to the stationary member, a sliding shelf slidably connected to the slidable support member, said slidable support member having metal loop portions interengaging and connecting the stationary member and the sliding shelf, and means for limiting the relative sliding movement between the slidable support member and one of the other members.

3. A shelf structure for a;refrigerator cabinet having a supporting surface adapted to be stationarily mounted within the cabinet, as slidable device carried by said structure on the underside thereof, said slidable device having a supporting surface on one side thereof and being provided with means forming an opening on the other side thereof, a basket removably suspended within the opening, and said basket being formed of an open wire framework provided with means engaging the means on said slidable device to provide a support for the basket.

4. A shelf for a refrigerator cabinet comprising a supporting surface stationarily mounted in the cabinet, 9, member slidably supported by said shelf and having interconnected metal members extending in a plurality of directions, said metal members being arranged to define an opening in said slidable member, and a basket having a flange portion extending over the metal members defining the opening in said slidable member for removably supporting the basket within the opening in said slidable member.

JAMES J. NANCE. 

